Mugabe's party Zanu-PF has 93 seats. Seven members of the president’s cabinet lost their spots.

Results of the presidential election are still up in the air.

The Zimbabwe Independent Election Results Centre, an independent organization tallying the vote, reported as of 2:35 p.m. EDT that Tsvangirai had 50.3 percent of the vote over Mugabe’s 42.9 percent. The parliamentary election showed the MDC ahead with 48 percent of constituencies, compared to Zanu-PF’s 46 percent.

A majority of more than 50 percent is needed to win the presidency. But Mugabe has yet to concede defeat, and reports are that his officials are preparing for a run-off election.

A March 31 Reuters clip reported that the state-run electoral commission was thought to be awarding Mugabe a win with 52 percent. In a clip from Wednesday, Mugabe backers described any claim of an MDC presidential win before the release of official tallies as “a coup attempt.”

The Herald, a state-run paper backing incumbent President Robert Mugabe, predicts that there will have to be a run-off election and contends that voting was fair.

“The mission did not witness any occurrences that compromised the integrity of the votes cast,” said Lucie Kasanga, the head of Comesa, an election observer group.

The state-run electoral commission is expected to declare a Mugabe win with 52 percent of the vote, giving him a clear majority to avoid a run-off. The government denies claims of vote-rigging as well as rumors that the president has fled to Malaysia.

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti says, in a clip from Sky News, that in Zimbabwe, “The atmosphere is ripe with conspiracies.” The MDC will not contest the election if Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party declares victory, because they don’t believe it is possible to find justice in a Zimbabwean court.

The Times of London writes that Mugabe’s use of scare tactics has waned and, in response, the people of Zimbabwe have been more freely voicing their discontent. According to The Times of London, “In the absence of the customary intimidation by the brainwashed youth militia and war veterans, the police and the army that has preceded every election since 2000, the climate of terror that has kept Mr. Mugabe in control has lifted.”

The Economist notes that it would not be easy to revive Zimbabwe if Mugabe were to lose power in the upcoming election. With yearly inflation at 100,000 percent a year, fiscal stabilization is necessary. The Economist writes that the best government for Zimbabwe and the international community would probably include both Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe defector Simba Makoni; Tsvangirai is more likely to win, and Makoni has skill managing the country.

Blog Sokwanele says, “Mugabe has known he lost previous elections but this time it is different: he can’t stand in front of us and tell us how popular and wanted he is, daring us to say different, with us silenced and only knowing by the proof that is in ours hearts and bodies that he is a liar.”

TownshipVibes.com, whose masthead reads, “The Internet Magazine for all Zimbabweans,” writes of the lag time in reporting the election results, “All this time … is only causing confusion. People know the results, the people have spoken through their votes, but for some other reasons it seems someone is trying to cook the vote.”

Zimbabwe state-run paper The Herald quotes Lucie Kasanga, the head of the Comesa election observer group: “The mission did not witness any occurrences that compromised the integrity of the votes cast.”

The BBC’s profile of Zimbabwe says that Robert Mugabe “presides over a nation whose economy is in tatters, where poverty and unemployment are endemic and political strife and repression commonplace.” Mugabe’s land redistribution policies have led to a decline in the economy and as a result, hundreds of thousands of people have left the country. The primary opposition to Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party has come from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

A January 2007 article from The Times of London describes the deteriorating economic condition of Zimbabwe, focusing on the dismal situation of the nation’s children. According to the article, “World Health Organization figures show that life expectancy in Zimbabwe, which was 62 in 1990, had by 2004 plummeted to 37 for men and 34 for women. These are by far the worst such figures in the world.”